Follow the yellow brick road to Lingle, Wyoming

“Good morning! Would you like some water?”

The crew and I have walked and breakfasted. I’m done with my coffee. It’s time to break camp. I step outside and my next door neighbor is standing at the rear of his fifth wheel holding a hose.

“Sure! That would be great!” I look up the length of the hose to the water spigot across from the campground. He has three hoses hooked together. “Wow, that’s some long hose.”

“Yeah, I almost had enough. I went down to Ace and bought another one.” He finishes filling his tank and brings the hose over to the BLT. I have the little door to the tank open.

“Thanks a lot! I was down to a third of a tank.” He pulls on the hose to bring it over to his neighbor on the other side.

I’m not happy with the results of my online research for our next camp.

No matter which way we go, it looks like a long drive today. That would be okay, but I did not sleep at all last night. This is strange because, ever since I retired, my insomnia has disappeared. I guess it must have been too much caffeine from the iced tea. I wasn’t worrying about anything. I just could not doze off.

Nevertheless, I feel good this morning.

However, I know I’m going to be sleepy around one o’clock. Thunderstorms are predicted over near Wind Cave National Park and the Black Hills area. I see myself driving sleepy-eyed on a mountain road during a thunderstorm. Not good.

Later I grab two empty jugs and head for the water spigot.

Three guys in jeans are at the receptacle for campground donations. I’m glad I put mine in there this morning. I bet they’ve read my thank you note. All three greet me with smiles.

“Is it hot enough for ya’?” the big guy asks. He moves over to pump the water for me.

“You have a really nice town. I appreciate having this place to camp. I enjoyed the tractor-pull the other day.”

The guy in glasses and fishing hat responds. “Not many tractors this year, were there.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t know. I’m not from around here. If I see two tractors in the same place, to me that’s a lot.” This garners chuckles from the three men.

The big guy asks me where I’m headed.

I tell him I want to see Mt. Rushmore and the Black Hills, generally the Rapid City area. “Trouble is, I can’t find a camp less than three or four hours away and with this late start, I don’t want to drive that far.”

That’s all I had to say.

In an instant I’m Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. The big guy is the lion, the lanky one is the scarecrow, and the man with the glasses and fisherman’s hat is the tin man. All three discuss where I should go, because I’m little Dorothy and they want what’s best for me.

The tin man chimes in. “She can park by the river at Lingle.” I assume he’s talking about the North Platte.

The lion pulls out a piece of paper and pen from his shirt pocket and draws me a map.

He explains it slowly while drawing, being careful that I understand every turn. “Once you get to Lingle, you have to go left or right. Go right. Then go over the tracks and drive about four miles to the river. That’s public land.”

“If you turn left, that takes you to Lusk,” the tin man adds.

The lion hands me the map. “You can camp down there and it’ll be nice. Your dogs can run around and everything.”

I thank them all again and they smile some more, wishing me luck as they go.

So here we are!

We’re still in Wyoming, a few miles outside of Lingle, population 510, over the tracks and beyond the corn fields.

We aren’t camped right on the bank of the North Platte, but we’re close. (The banks are too eroded to be safe.)

A thunderstorm comes and goes.

A big white dog from the ranch across the main road pays us a visit. I wash my hair, soak my feet, and take a nap with the crew. Giant cottonwoods form a canopy above us. A cool breeze blows through our open windows. This is good. This will make a good camp for tonight. [slideshow]

The adventure continues, and like so many others have said it “your words are like majic” you make us feel like we are right there on the journey with you, and in a sense we are in spirit. You always seem to met such nice people, but of course love and kindness gets the same.. what goes around comes around, and Sue you bring the best out of people from all this time following you. Enjoy very much. Hi to the crew. Keep safe !!

Great post. I am cracking up at your description of the tin man, lion, and the scarecrow!! Glad they helped you find a nice place to stay. I love the big trees.
I don’t know what it is about most RV people, but they are sure friendly and helpful. Maybe the experience of being out camping puts everyone in a good mood.
I suffer from insomnia too..I have been taking over the counter, Melatonin. Seems to help a little.

With me I’m pretty sure it’s caffeine. Usually I make sun tea with Celestial Seasonings (Geri put me on to that.) and it doesn’t have caffeine. I made a batch with Liptons. I shouldn’t drink it after noon.

Insomnia sucks. I wish you could sleep without having to take something.

We make our herbal tea in the fridge too. I like to mix Wild Berry Zinger and Lemon Zinger, half and half….yummy!! We used to make regular tea in the fridge too…I still think however that some sun makes it taste just a twinge better!

Hearing how those guys were helpful is not surprizing…many people who live in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho are like that!! At least the ones who were born and raised there anyway!! Looks like you are in another very nice spot!!

PS….BOTH hubby and I cannot drink real tea after noon, if we want to sleep at night. Herbal teas are fine and that is what I keep cold in the fridge…but when we eat out, we have to only have tea at noontime. Ain’t it fun getting old though? A few years ago we could have drank many glasses of it and been fine for sleeping!!

I just remembered, Sue…I hate to tell you this, but you will probably have to find a kennel for the dogs if you want to see Mt. Rushmore. When we were moving east 9 years ago, we had planned to see it, but we did not want to put our poor dogs into the kennel on top of the stresses of moving. As it turned out, it was all fogged in anyway, so I guess it worked out…but we were disappointed about the dog thing…you might want to check out all that!!

Just copied this from the NPS about Mt Rushmore and pets: ” Pets (except service animals) are not permitted in any part of the memorial, except in the pet exercise areas located at each end of the upper parking level facility. Please pick up after your pet with bags that are provided in these areas. ”

Been too many years since I’ve seen MtR, plus am sure changes in roads and viewing areas have changed since was there, so hopefully some of your readers can make suggestions.

Crazy Horse display, though far from finished, is on our bucket list, from friends and travelers we’ve met. JMHO…..chuckles…..treats to the doggies and Geri got a new recipe for doggie treats with peanut butter. If its as good as we think, we” send out!

Hey Sue,
This has nothing to do with this days post, but I saw this and thought you may want to check it out, http://www.DesertHavenAnimalRefuge.com. They are in NM, and offer a site for vol work. Sounds like more fun than work.

Desert Haven is not far from Elephant Butte and Truth or Consequences where I camped last fall. I would have considered volunteering except that my two canines are already a fulltime job. I like the concept of offering RVers a site for volunteering. So many of us love animals.

We have visited Desert Haven several timesand they offer great opportunities for workampers. You can work for a minimum of 2 weeks up to a season! It is a well kept facility and well worth a visit! Geri

FYI – be careful of the cottonwoods during bad weather – you don’t want to be under them or near them with high winds. They are very brittle and big branches snap like twigs and could cause some damage to the PTV or BLT, not counting you and the crew. We have a lot of them here in northern nevada and we see the branches and split tree trunks on the ground after a bad wind. On a happy note- Recommend you visit the Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills.. it is a work in progress carving of the Indian Leader out of a mountain side that was started in 1947. Will be over 600ft high when done, the completed head is 87ft. In my opinion, MUCH MORE impressive than Mount Rushmore.

You are absolutely correct about cottonwood trees, Mel….lived on 16 acres in southern Idaho when I was a teen…and we always lost LOTS of limbs come down with wind….seemed we could NEVER keep them all picked up, cut up, moved aside etc in the pastures, like our dad wanted us to!! They are wonderful shade…but not very safe!!

We are under cottonwood limbs and the wind did blow last night. Fortunately nothing fell. I’ll be more careful from now on.

I do hope to see Crazy Horse. I expect it will be more interesting than Mr. Rushmore. I feel like I’ve already seen Rushmore — it’s such an American icon, photos on classroom walls in grade school, etc.

Have you checked air pressure in the tire you had repaired? Have you checked your air pressure on the rest of the tires, oil, coolant, windsheild washer fluid????
Nosey ole fart, ain’t I….but trying to keep the dogs and you safe.

I check the fluids almost every day I travel. I check the air pressure in the tires in the morning I change camps. All these things were checked the morning I left Wheatland. I added some air to three tires, not much, just making everything even.

Have you thought of filling the tires with nitrogen? Before we left Calee..we changed the tires as they were 10 years old and we didn’t want a blow out in the middle of Nevada, Nebraska, Wyoming or any of the other desolate states we drove thru. We decided to go with a nitrogen fill (green stem caps).

It just might be a hype thing but apparently nitrogen doesn’t leak out and maintains for a very long time. Have it in my blazer’s tires…haven’t had to add anything for the past two years.

If you HAVE to add air..it’s okay to add it to the nitrogen inside…as nitrogen is part of air.
Just my two cents.

Going to North Dakota? Consider Theodore Roosevelt National Park They have two camping units, north and south. Your gezzerette card gets you in without paying the entrance fee, camping at north unit is without electric but has potable water, bathroom, dump site and in the mornings a herd of buffalo wander through the campsite that you can watch while having breakfast and coffee. Something going on most evenings which were every interesting. Drive up to top of road and glass for big horns and marvel at the beautiful striations in different colors appearing in the eroded bluffs and thoughtfully considert the thousands of climate changes which occurred over thousands of millennium to lay them down. Hiking abounds there. Camping was $3.00/night a couple years ago when I was there. It is one of the better places I have enjoyed. Stayed about a week there, as I recall. Oh, you get to marvel at the “cannon balls” too! You want miss them.

Hi, John! My trip plans keep growing — there’s so much I want to experience! Someone recently urged me to go to Glacier NP and now your description of Theodore Roosevelt NP has me wanting to go there,too. I would love it! I don’t know how many places I can visit . . . I still haven’t seen Yellowstone or the Grand Tetons or the National Parks in Utah . .. What a country, eh?

Hi Sue! I was born and raised in ND and started my career at TRNP. Yes…the park is beautiful! However, it is a few hours from Rapid City AND because of the recent “Bakken Boom’ oil field activity, the 2500 trucks on the highway on any given day is enough to give you anxiety. Your return route will determine whether you visit Yellowstone, Tetons or Glacier…all gorgeous choices! (SD is one of my favorite places to visit) I visited Mt Rushmore with my granddaughter two years ago…just parking was $10. The Mall was wall-to-wall visitors since many are bussed in. Ironically, my granddaughter enjoyed everywhere I took her but Mt. Rushmore! I’m just saying…. Your experience could be totally different as it should be…. Safe travels….

wow! what a grand trip I’m having ‘going with you’ through your blog. I like the “Oz” analogy. I’ve seen Rushmore a couple of times, was disappointed at the cost of seeing Crazy Horse carving. We just stood at the parking lot and looked from there.

Love your pictures. I was told when I got my Verizon Air Card 2 years ago that I would use up much of my monthly allotment of data if I got on websites with lots of “stuff”, like Amazon or lots of pictures. That may not be true as I’m pretty ‘dumb’ about techy things. That’s why I’m glad I can choose not to open the pictures when I read your blog. I wait until I have free wifi to see them.

Interesting to hear about your data usage, that you have to wait to view my photos. I wish you didn’t have to do that. I guess this means the slideshow at the end of a post is good for anyone with limited data time. I appreciate you telling me this. I wouldn’t have thought of it because, when I open up my blog, the slideshow starts loading right away. I don’t have a choice not to open the photos.

I have a 5GB Verizon Air Card plan and have had no problems viewing your postings and slide shows. I do go to the slide show and pause it while I am reading the post and ALL the Comments. This keeps the slide show from opening all the additional pictures while I am reading.
I would also not have a problem if you posted the pictures individually rather than as a slide show because they would only open one time not keep opening over and over again as they cycle through the show. I read a lot of blogs with a lot of pictures and have never exceeded my Verizon limit. The limit killer is video which I rarely open and keep disabled except when I want to see something special.

Hi Sue,
I continue to follow your adventures daily and enjoy reading your blog immensely. Your wanderlust seems more pronounced of late and that provides a change of pace for your readers also. While camping in Maine during the last week I was able to borrow a friends Golden Retriever for a day; what a treat. My comment today is my opportunity to say ‘Hi’.

Sue, the Sage Creek Campground in Badlands National Park is free. We have camped there in the past. Pit Toilets and horse corrals are the only amenities (or were when we were last there). The Bison herd cruised through camp one time when we were there.

Agreed, Sue, that Toadstool will be hot as will Badlands. We head for the northern end of the Black Hills. There is free dispersed camping in the National Forest north of Hill City. The USFS use map is available online. Dispersed camping areas are on it.

Read some comments last night about MtR (been 46 years since been there – and done that) and there is parking, which is operated by a concessioner. Charge is $11, NPS service site says can use Visa/Mastercard, cash, or travelers check. Comments I read made from earlier this month said they only took cash. One commenter said there is a pretty good view just outside an entrance. Geezer pass doesn’t work in parking area. I’d see MtR first, as suggested, then Crazy Horse – I’d like to see the difference now from 46 years ago. As you are learning, there is a ton of places to see/visit. And, I do recommend Theodore Roosevelt National Park North too.

Thank you for the great pictures. You always capture our imaginations with your stories and photos. Big Chief and I were camping this past weekend and reading your blog every day. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences. It seems that you run into some of the nicest people out there. Hope you enjoy Mt. Rushmore. It’s fun to find your state flag flying in the park and take in the amazing sight of the monument. We’re thinking of going there in September and hoping to see Crazy Horse this time. Wishing you safe travels. Hugs to Bridget and Spikey.

If my family thinks I’m nuts, no one has said so. Both my sisters are very supportive and enjoy reading the adventures. We three are very different in many ways and we respect each others’ differences. I think they’ve come to expect me to be a bit “odd.”

I have a niece who would love to be on the road . . .

Living on the road is MORE than I expected, and by that I mean better!

Speaking of sisters, cousins, etc….we went to a barn sing tonight…one lady singing sure looked a LOT like you. Her name was Paula!! (This is in central part of NC….anyone you related to there?) Looked to be in our age range.

Dorothy…I think I am going to find you some ruby walking shoes! On a more serious note Sue, you have met some really kind people on your travels. As I was reading this post it made me think about how I don’t do so well with people anymore…..I am courteous and have friends. But I really tend to be a solitary creature. I hope that maybe someday I can travel, and find a little joy in the people I meet along the way. It’s not that I think it would change my outlook completely, but it would be nice to experience.

Your comment struck home with me. I’m a solitary creature. These encounters I have with people that you read about on my blog are two kinds.

One kind is very brief, friendly and superficial (Bridget at Elephant Butte, Wizard of Oz men, Murdick, etc.). This type of encounter requires offering a sincere, direct friendliness and a willingness to listen more than talk.

The other kind of encounter is with a certain type of person, and is deeper, more meaningful, and potentially long-lasting (Al and Kelly of the Bayfield Bunch, Rick of Darby Well, Rusty the Mountain Man, Ken who inspired me to get on the Dukan Diet, to name a few). In these cases, it’s all about connecting with good people whom you respect and who will respect your solitary leanings.

When your travel “someday” comes, I bet you’ll meet a lot of good people with whom you’ll “do well.”

Sue, I love big old cottonwoods like in your photos. As someone noted above, they are prone to wind damage – the limbs have lots of water in them and are heavy. We call them widowmakers out here in CO and UT.

So while in that area head north and west back into Wyo. and check out Devils Tower, just a couple hour drive. Was that the ET movie?? When I was last in that area I didn’t realize Devils Tower was so close or I would have driven by.

Oh and thanks for all the information…or it shoud be thanks to “all” for the information. You should see my maps. I might not go to the campgrounds/sites mentioned but there on my maps now just in case.

About 15 years ago my brother took our Dad, me and my Dad’s dog to Mt. Rushmore in a Class C. We parked in the large parking lot, and my Dad had a great view of the monument through the window. My Dad stayed in the RV with his dog while my brother and I walked up to see everything up close. Then my brother drove a ways to a lookout point where he parked and we all walked a short distance (with the dog) to an area where we could see the monument from a nearby hill. It was a great view. If you’re interested, I will ask my brother if he remembers where this lookout point is located. He had been there before when his kids were young, so he probably remembers how to get there. I enjoy your blog – glad you are having so much fun.

Meet the canine crew!

Roger (left) and Reggie (right)

What is the BLT?

The BLT is what I consider the Best Little Trailer, a 2011 17-foot Casita Liberty Deluxe which is the full-time home for me and my crew.

What is the PTV?

The PTV is the Perfect Tow Vehicle. It's a 2005 Chevy Express Van with a V-8, 5.3 liter engine and equipped with a 200-watt solar panel on the roof and two AGM batteries inside.

What is a blogorino?

A blogorino is a reader who opens up the comment section of this blog and writes a message. Blogorinos are kind and friendly and fun to know!